Stop and Smell the Fireflies
Stop and Smell the Fireflies? Yeah, well, that’s what I said. In the past couple of days I’ve learned a couple of important lessons. Lessons which I should have known, seeing as I’ve preached them often enough.
The other night it was very hot & humid. Ms GF & I where driving on the back roads to my place when we stopped to switch drivers. We got out of the car, and were stopped in our tracks by the sight which greeted us. The field by which we were parked looked as if it had been festooned with a million tiny blinking Christmas lights. Fireflies. Thousands of them.
Fairyland
It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Eventually we got back in the car and drove on a little further. It got more beautiful. Tiny glens were filled with the flickering light; in the grass, in the air, on shrubs and trees. It was beautiful. It was a real life fairyland.
Ms GF looked at me and said, let’s not go swimming… wake your kids up and show them. Or words to that effect. I waffled. It was very late, the kids had been out to a movie with the Grandmother… I decided that rather than wake them up at that late hour, I’d save it for a night where they hadn’t done anything exciting. Say, the next night. Great plan.
Storm Clouds Gather
So the next day I got up and went to work, full of excitement about the surprise I had in store for my offspring. It was 30 degrees by coffee time. It would be perfect. Except that by lunch it was pouring rain, and there were severe weather warnings.
I’d missed my chance.
The most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and I missed sharing it with my kids. I’ve skated with them on this lake when it was a mile long skating rink of the most perfect ice I’ve ever seen. I’ve gotten them out of bed to look at a sunset, listen to spring peepers, watch bats. Beautiful, if common, events to be sure. But in all my years, I’d never seen anything as beautiful as fields of fireflies.
Clearing Skies
That afternoon it got hot and the skies cleared again. My hopes rose with the climbing temperature. But by supper time it was storming again. By time I got home, it was over cast and chilly. Surely the fireflies wouldn’t be out on such a cold night.
After dark I got in my car and drove out to see. The first field I came to was empty. My heart fell. I drove to the next field, remembering that even the night before, that particular field had been empty. With out much hope I pulled up next to a fenced in paddock. I saw one, then two, then hundreds of fireflies. The show was on!
I rushed home, calling ahead so the kids would be out of bed and ready for me when I got there.
Magic Moments
We drove out and stopped next to the road. The kids were amazed. They chased and gently caught the flashing insects. They marvelled at them. The stood in awed silence watching the field light up before their eyes. I almost cried.
We went a little further to a small glen. I’ve never seen so many fire flies in all my life. It was the most beautiful and amazing thing. The over cast sky hid the moon, and the fireflies were even brighter. And this time, I got to share it with my kids.
Stop and Smell
I got lucky. I thought I’d blown it, and yesterday was preparing an article about disappointment, and not letting chances slip you by.
Sometimes though, you get a second chance to share in the delight that the world has to offer. But don’t take the chance. If you have an opportunity to share something wonderful with someone, take it. You don’t always get a second chance… But sometimes, you do.